Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 114 Making Money by Selling Pigs

It has been a week since Xu Chunsheng and his sister last met Tang Changping's parents. During this time, staff from the county economic commission and the monopoly bureau came to conduct an on-site inspection. They did not nitpick without reason, but checked the compliance details of the distillery item by item, and finally raised only two minor issues for rectification.

These are all minor issues and do not involve qualification review. After they are completed, you can report to the relevant department. Once the verification is approved, you can add the category of national liquor to your business and update the scope of your business license. After that, you just need to wait for the next inspection.

After things were settled here, Xu Chunsheng's family finally had time to deal with the pig farm.

After having breakfast, Xu Chunsheng brought the two dogs the pork bones he had gnawed on the night before. He squatted in front of the doghouse and casually teased the two dogs.

Xu Chunsheng untied the ropes binding the two dogs and let them run around on their own.

The little yellow dog barked excitedly, circling around Xu Chunsheng, running back and forth with a bone in its mouth. The big white dog, unlike the little yellow dog, was only focused on gnawing on the bone.

Hearing the noise from the two dogs outside, the pigs in the sty started to stir. Xu Chunsheng mixed some feed and hay, added water and mixed it well, then put the pig feed into a bucket and poured it into each pen.

In the pens where the feed had been poured out, the pigs crowded in to grab the food. In the pens where the feed hadn't been poured out yet, they put their two front paws on the walls and kept grunting and urging Xu Chunsheng on.

Little Huang had somehow followed them into the pigsty and was running back and forth anxiously in the passageway, barking loudly.

The pigs had just been fed when the faint sound of a motorcycle could be heard coming from the mountain road in the distance.

Big White's ears perked up, its lazy posture vanished instantly, it straightened up, pawed at the ground, and became alert in the direction of the road.

Little Huang dashed to the intersection, howling and barking as it saw people approaching.

"Little Yellow, come back."

Xiao Huang glanced back at Xu Chunsheng, then grinned at the other side of the road. As he walked toward Xu Chunsheng, he kept looking back at the intersection. He then anxiously circled around Xu Chunsheng's legs.

Big White slowly took two steps, stood up, and stood in front of the person and the dog.

A red Jialing motorcycle came into Xu Chunsheng's view. The rider was a middle-aged man in his forties. He stopped the motorcycle at the intersection and shouted to Xu Chunsheng, "Boss Xu, I heard you're going to sell pigs, so I came to take a look."

"Yes, I will."

Xu Chunsheng patted the two dogs' heads and tied them back up.

Seeing that the dog was tied up, the man turned off the engine, took out the key, hung it on his waistband, and walked over from the intersection.

Some time ago, Xu Chunsheng announced that his family was going to sell more than 30 large fat pigs, and in the past few days, pig dealers have been coming to see the pigs and negotiate prices.

The pig dealer saw the pig farm from afar and said to Xu Chunsheng as he walked, "Boss Xu, your pig farm looks quite impressive, very professional."

He was somewhat surprised to see the pig farm operating license hanging on the wall. He hadn't expected that someone would have built a pig farm so early in such a remote mountain area.

"Uncle, all the permits for my pig farm are in order." Xu Chunsheng greeted him, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and offered him a cigarette.

Liu Laosan took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear, saying directly, "Then, Boss Xu, let's go check on the pigs first. If things go well, I'll have someone come and pick them up another day."

Xu Chunsheng led Liu Laosan straight into the pigsty. Xiao Huang growled behind them, but Xu Chunsheng scolded him and sent him back.

Liu Laosan glanced back at the two dogs, which were plump and strong with glossy fur. He smacked his lips and said, "You've raised these dogs quite well."

"For guarding the house and property."

Xu Chunsheng walked ahead and answered calmly.

Liu Laosan didn't say anything more and followed Xu Chunsheng into the pigsty, standing in the aisle looking into the pigpen.

The pigs, who had just finished eating, were huddled together on the ground, grunting as they slept. A few others, not sleeping, were wandering around the pen, occasionally nudging the ground with their snouts.

Xu Chunsheng led the group from one end to the other. Without much introduction, Liu Laosan casually stood in front of a circle, reached his hand through the gap in the fence, and pressed it against the hind leg of the nearest pig. Zhu Shoujing grunted twice, stood up, and walked forward, the fat on his buttocks jiggling.

Liu Laosan stood up, clapped his hands, and, with a tense face, deliberately tried to lower the price: "It's alright, it has a pretty big frame, just a bit thin. If you feed it for another half month, it can grow even bigger, but I need the goods urgently, I'll buy it all at two yuan and sixty cents per kilogram."

Two yuan and sixty cents, which was about what Chunsheng had predicted; the people who came before him also offered two yuan and sixty cents.

Although Xu Chunsheng didn't achieve anything remarkable in his previous life, he was already very familiar with the pricing tactics of these middlemen: give you a low price first, and then negotiate slowly.

In the late autumn of 1992, the price of fat pigs was around 3.2 yuan per jin (0.5 kg), and in the city it could even sell for 3.6 yuan or more.

The two yuan and sixty cents that Liu Laosan gave was the starting price for the mountain people to sell to the dealers. If they insisted on negotiating higher, the price could only be reduced to three yuan at most. If it was forty pigs, each pig weighing 160 jin, the difference of four mao per jin would amount to a difference of two thousand five or sixty cents, which would end up in the pig dealers' pockets.

"Uncle Liu, you're joking with me."

Xu Chunsheng looked at the fat pigs in the pigsty and said to Liu Laosan, "Last month, someone went to the city to sell pigs and paid 3.5 yuan. After deducting the transportation fee, that came to 3.3 yuan per kilogram. You bought them from me for 2.6 yuan, and when you take them out to sell, you'll make 50 or 60 yuan per pig. I won't sell them for less than 3.2 yuan."

Liu Laosan took the cigarette from behind his ear, lit it, and squinted at Xu Chunsheng. This young man was not young at all.

Every word he uttered was calculated; he could even calculate how much profit he made from the price difference. He exhaled a puff of smoke and laughed awkwardly twice: "Boss Xu, what are you saying? The city is the city. In your remote mountain village, how much effort it takes to get a pig out of the village is self-evident."

"The shipping costs alone are several hundred dollars, which I have to pay out of my own pocket. I also have to pay for the truck rental. And when the pigs are transported there, they have to inspect and check me. It's not like I can just sell them whenever I want."

Liu Laosan took two deep drags on his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and stomped on it twice: "Three yuan, three yuan and three jiao is too high. I won't make any money. If you want to sell it, I can come and load it onto the truck tomorrow morning."

Xu Chunsheng shook his head and led his men outside: "Three yuan and two jiao. If you're willing, you can come and install it tomorrow."

Liu Laosan stared at Xu Chunsheng for several seconds, gritted his teeth, but still didn't agree on the spot. "I'll go back and discuss it."

Xu Chunsheng nodded, watched him turn around, get on his motorcycle, and rev away.

Xiao Huang barked at the back of the car a few times, but Xu Chunsheng stood still and reached out to stroke the dog's head.

Once the sound of the motorcycle was completely gone, Xu Chunsheng got up, grabbed a broom, and swept up the cigarette butts that Liu Laosan had thrown in the aisle.

Today, the sun was shining, a rare treat. The early winter sun felt warm on people's skin. Xu Chunsheng wasn't in a hurry to go back. Lately, people would come to ask about the pigs from time to time. Fortunately, Xu Chunsheng spent most of his time here. He brought out a chair from the house, placed it in the courtyard, and half-reclined on it to bask in the sun.

He fell asleep without realizing it, only to be woken up by the sound of his father coming over to pack his things.

"Dad, what brings you here?"

"Your mom fried some crabs and asked me to bring them over to you. Did someone come by earlier asking about pigs?"

Xu Chunsheng got up, opened the bag his father had brought, which was tightly wrapped in oil paper. Inside, he found golden and crispy crabs, their shells fried until crispy, with dried chili powder wrapped around the edges.

"One person came, but he was only willing to offer three dollars. He said he would go back and think about it, and I guess he won't come back."

Xu Chunsheng took a piece of crab out of the bag, put it in his mouth, and cracked the hard shell with a crunch, slowly sucking out the crab meat inside.

Mr. Xu didn't say much, and took out a piece of crab from the bag and chewed on it. From the time the pig farm was repaired in March until now, more than half a year has passed. After taking care of it, the dozens of pigs in the pen have finally grown to the point where they are ready for market. The news of selling the pigs was released some time ago, and since then, people have been coming to the door frequently.

"So how do you plan to sell it?" Mr. Xu asked, licking the grease off his fingers.

"Meat processing plant." Xu Chunsheng tossed the spit-out shell fragments to the two dogs, then untied them and let them out for some fresh air.

"I heard that the meat processing plant has a new plant manager. Li Da told me that they even replaced the main gate with a new one, and there's a notice posted at the entrance saying that they're going to fully resume production and are waiting to buy a large number of pigs after the spring, at a higher price than the pig dealers."

"I also asked him to help me contact the section chief who collects pigs and arrange to come and see the pigs."

"Meat processing plant?" Mr. Xu frowned. "Boss Li is still so kind, but didn't the meat processing plant close down last year? The pig slaughtering machines all rusted, and I heard that all the workers in the plant ran away."

"It was closed for half a year, but it's reopened now." Xu Chunsheng stood up and patted the crumbs off his hands. "I'll go to the county town again tomorrow to check on things."

"Dad, come over tomorrow and keep an eye on things. If any dealers come, just receive them as usual. But we won't sell anything for less than three yuan and one jiao. That's our bottom line."

As for the price of 3.2 yuan quoted to Liu Laosan earlier, it was just to negotiate the price, but none of the other vendors who came were willing to pay that price.

Father Xu nodded in agreement. After Little Yellow finished filling the broken shells on the ground, it remembered to circle around under the two men's feet. Finally, it simply stood up, put its two front paws on Xu Chunsheng's legs, and licked his palms with its wet tongue.

Xu Chunsheng pushed Xiao Huang away: "Go away, it's all greasy, don't lick me."

The next day, Xu Chunsheng drove his tricycle to town early in the morning and took the first bus to town.

While on the bus, I kept thinking about the meat processing plant in my past life. It's a pity that my family didn't raise pigs in my past life. I only heard bits and pieces that after the spring, the meat processing plant resumed production, and the surrounding vendors rushed to sell pigs, causing the price to drop very quickly.

Some people received the news late, and by the time they drove the pigs over, the meat processing plant was no longer offering the initial high price. In the end, they sold the pigs to dealers at a 20% discount, suffering huge losses.

The county town was the same as when he last came. Xu Chunsheng found the entrance to the meat processing plant and, sure enough, the gate had been replaced, and the smell of the freshly painted paint had not completely dissipated.

Even the pair of stone lions at the entrance, though not new, had been carefully washed.

The iron gate was half open, and a pig transport truck with an iron cage was backing out. Before the truck even came out, the smell filled Xu Chunsheng's nose.

Xu Chunsheng stood aside and waited for the car to leave before going to the guardhouse. He knocked on the window, and the old man inside, who was reading a newspaper, looked up and asked, "Young man, what's the matter?"

Xu Chunsheng handed a cigarette through the window: "Hello sir, I'm looking for Section Chief Sun from the purchasing department. We made an appointment last time. His surname is Xu."

The gatekeeper took the cigarette, tucked it behind his ear, looked him up and down, picked up the internal phone on the table, and dialed a number: "Senior Sun, there's a young man surnamed Xu at the gate who wants to talk to you about buying pigs."

"Yes, the same one as last time — okay."

"6

The security guard hung up the phone, leaned halfway out of the window, pointed to a building, and said gently to Xu Chunsheng, "See that building? It's the second room on the right on the second floor. Just go up."

Xu Chunsheng thanked the gatekeeper before heading towards the building.

The cement steps of the stairs have been washed, and you can still occasionally see the old dirt marks. The cobwebs on the walls have also been cleaned and repainted with a layer of whitewash.

Xu Chunsheng walked to the second room on the right on the second floor. The door was open. He knocked on the door and a man in his forties wearing a blue Zhongshan suit was sitting inside.

The man looked up from behind his desk when he heard the sound. Section Chief Sun had a thin face and wore black-rimmed glasses. There were some papers spread out on the desk. He put down his pen and capped it.

"Xiao Xu, right? Please sit down."

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Section Chief Sun pointed to the chair opposite him, pushed the report aside, and gestured for Xu Chunsheng to sit down and speak: "You left a phone number last time you came. I checked your information, and you were the first person in your town to take the lead in building a pig farm. The county even gave you a medal. You're really good, young man. You said you have forty fattened pigs ready for market?"

"Section Chief Sun is joking. I was just lucky."

Xu Chunsheng pulled out a chair and sat down, saying, "That's not all. There are forty pigs available for sale right now, and we also have three-month-old piglets from the dead lion head pig. Another batch will be ready for market next spring."

"As you know, my pig farm is newly built, and the pigsty conditions are good. I disinfect it with alcohol once a week and clean the pigsty every day. You can rest assured about the pigs' condition."

Section Chief Sun pulled out a notebook, opened it, and handed it to Xu Chunsheng. He pointed to the words on it with a pen: "Our rules here: tickets thicker than three fingers are grade one, and those between three and two and a half fingers are grade two. The price is based on the market. Right now, I'll give you three yuan and thirty cents. You can bring it to the factory to be weighed, and I'll settle the payment on the spot. I won't hold your money back."

Three yuan and three jiao!

Although it was two cents cheaper than in the city, it was three cents more than Liu Laosan's quote, and even one cent more than he had expected.

Xu Chunsheng quickly calculated in his mind:

If we calculate the average weight of forty heads as at least 160 jin, the total weight is 6,400 jin. At 3.3 yuan per kilogram, that's a little over 10,000 yuan.

After deducting feed and labor costs, plus the expenses of repairing the pig farm and setting up electricity, this batch of pigs actually didn't make any money.

However, by using the grain they buy to brew wine and sell, and with the government providing a guaranteed interest-free loan of 10,000 yuan, which doesn't need to be repaid immediately, they still have income.

"As long as I can secure the pigs for next spring's slaughter, this batch of pigs, after deducting feed costs, will be pure profit." Xu Chunsheng looked at Section Chief Sun and directly stated his thoughts: "Section Chief Sun, I accept 3.3 yuan. I won't ask for more." He continued, "But I have a condition: after this batch of pigs is delivered, I hope the factory will give priority to my goods next spring when they are ready for slaughter. If it's suitable, we can sign a contract. You can give priority to my goods, and I will deliver them to you with guaranteed quality and quantity, saving you some trouble."

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Section Chief Sun glanced at him, then met Xu Chunsheng's gaze, and remained silent for a while.